Cinderella: Serious Dreaming
by Lily Itriwi
Summary: New Chapter - has a song about cow manure!!! A Cinderella musical, told from Buttons POV... original songs, a little humour and a classic story! It's based on a tape version of the story I had when I was really young...
1. Prologue

            Once upon a time – do you believe in once upon a time ? The land where dreams come true and wishes are never wasted ? Where anything you can think of is possible, if only you can find the right magic. I didn't used to believe in it at all – but now I do. And I'm going to tell you the story of what happened to change my mind.


	2. Once Upon A Time

Just to explain this story. It's a Cinderella musical – the songs are made up. If it's in bold, it's a song. Make up your own tune to sing along to it, or nick one from something. Hope you enjoy this !

**Cinderella – Serious Dreaming**

**I remember a place,**

**I remember a time**

**When life was simple,**

**When peace was mine.**

**With love in my heart,**

**And love in the air**

**All that I needed**

**And love to spare.**

**I remember a time,**

**I remember a place,**

**When love wore a different place,**

**Once upon a time.**

            My name's Buttons. They call me that because of all these shiny silver buttons on my uniform. I was the servant at Hard-up Hall, where I first met Cinderella. She was the daughter of Baron Hard-up and his wife and for the first few years of her life, the little family was very happy. But then, one winter, Cinderella's mother became very ill, and she died, and Cinderella missed her very, very much. 

**I remember a place,**

**I remember a time**

**When the song went wrong**

**Without reason or rhyme.**

**The love that had laughed **

**Had to learn how to cry,**

**And the love that had laughed**

**Had to learn how to die.**

**I remember a time,**

**I remember a place,**

**When love wore a weeping face,**

**Once upon a time.**

            Poor Baron Hard-up felt that Cinderella needed a mother, to help her, and teach her, and so he remarried to a woman he met through the Lonely Hearts ads, who had two older daughters of her own. But after they were married, the Baron learnt that the woman was cruel and heartless, and her daughters were just like her. So life became a misery for Cinderella. All day long she laboured for them, until the evening when they'd gone to bed, and she sat dreaming by the dying embers of the kitchen fire.

**I remember a place,**

**I remember a time**

**When love was a sin,**

**When love was a crime,**

**The love that was left**

**Had to learn how to hide,**

**To live like a hermit,**

**Way down deep inside.**

**I remember a time, **

**I remember a place,**

**Where love had to hide its face,**

**Once upon a time.  **

            It would be hard to describe to you just how awful Cinderella's stepmother and her two ugly stepsisters were to her. None of them ever did an ounce of housework, or cooking, or shopping. In fact, her stepmother never even got out of bed ! She just lay there, eating chocolate eclairs and drinking sherry, getting bigger, and bigger, and fatter, and fatter. And the work was left to Cinderella. And me. And then, once upon a time, a dream came to Cinderella, a dream that cheered her up, and gave her hope, and made her life just a bit more bearable. She dreamt of finding a good young man, who would love her and take her away from these awful people. And then she could look after her father, who had sacrificed so much for her, and for whom things had gone so terribly wrong. But she never told anyone about her dream. Maybe she knew that a secret dream can be a thousand times more powerful than one that is spoken.


	3. Let His Country Down Or, The Cow Manure ...

                Now, Hard-up Hall is very close to the palace of the King and Queen, and our King and Queen had a son, a Prince, who was learning what it's like when your dreams _don't _come true. 

            Well, one day he was walking in the woods, talking to his closest friend and faithful servant, Dandini.

            "Don't try to make me feel better, I'm the laughing stock of the country, I must be! Every romance I've had has ended in disaster, and now my father is insisting that I marry so he can retire and play snooker."

            "Don't be too hard on yourself. I wouldn't say you were the laughing stock, exactly…"

            "Dandini, we've been friends too long for you to fool me. I've noticed people laughing uproariously and then stopping suddenly when _I _approach. What _are_ they saying?"

            "Well… they do think you've been a bit unlucky in your choice of… girlfriends…"

            "Unlucky! Ha!"

            "And then, people _do_ exaggerate…"

            "But what do they _say_? Dandini, I order you to tell me."

            "Well, they don't exactly say it, Milord. Most recently, they've been singing it."

**We are loyal to our royals**

**But we're going off the boil**

**And we fear the prince will never**

**Wear the crown**

**We pray he finds a lady**

**But on every date he's made he's**

**Left her high and dry and**

**Let his country down, down, down,**

**On every date he's let his country down**

**Once there was a lady**

**The daughter of an alderman**

**She used a fireman's ladder**

**To climb the palace walls;**

**"She knocked upon my shutters,**

**But when I pushed to open it**

**I heard a distant whimper…**

**And she wasn't there at all!"**

**We are loyal to our royals**

**But we're going off the boil**

**And we fear the prince will never**

**Wear the crown**

**We pray he finds a lady**

**But on every date he's made he's**

**Left her high and dry and**

**Let his country down, down, down,**

**On every date he's let his country down**

**Another had a father**

**Whose heart was with his dairy cows**

**He sent his milk-maid daughter of**

**Her charms he felt quite sure;**

**"But how could I marry**

**A princess wearing wellingtons,**

**A princess wearing wellies…**

**Who smells of cow manure!"**

**We are loyal to our royals**

**But we're going off the boil**

**And we fear the prince will never**

**Wear the crown**

**We pray he finds a lady**

**But on every date he's made he's**

**Left her high and dry and**

**Let his country down, down, down,**

**On every date he's let his country down**

            "Well, old friend, it's just a laugh for them, but it's the real thing for me, I'm afraid. My father the king is insisting that I marry by the New Year whether I like it or not."

            "Well, you're bound to be able to find _some_one…"

            "All the women of the court want to marry a prince, but none of them are really interested in _me_ at all."

            "Of course they're interested in you. But you can't separate being a prince form the rest of who you are."

            "And why not? _Why not!"_

            "Oh! Oh no! Not another one of your royal hare-brained ideas, _please!_"

            "Listen, what if you and I were to change clothes, so I could be Dandini looking for a bride! Then I'd know for sure, wouldn't I?"

            "This will just be another escapade that will go down in infamy, isn't it…"

            "Nonsense! What's the harm?"

            And so they exchanged clothes and began to plan how they would find a bride for Prince Charming.

            Well, as they strolled through the wood, talking and laughing, they came upon a young girl and her servant, carrying the shopping home from the market. And do you know who they were? Yes, me and Cinderella! We were surprised, I can tell you – ordinary people don't often bump into kings and queens and princes, you know. They asked her who we were and where we were going, and she was as polite as she could be, but I didn't much like the way she was staring at that Mr Dandini – or, he at her. It was only much later that we discovered that who we thought was Dandini was really the prince, and that the pompous smart alec of a prince was really Dandini, putting on an act! Anyway, after an embarrassing couple of minutes staring and stammering at each other, I managed to drag Cinderella off home.


	4. When the Cat's Away

For this song, Cinderella is in italics and her dad is in bold…

            "Cinderella? Are you crying? What's the matter?"

            "Oh, it's nothing, father, just a little mishap on the way home."

            "Now don't try to fool me, I know when you're upset. How can I help you if you don't tell me?"

            "It's nothing important, father. You have enough to worry about without my little problems. I feel embarrassed when I get upset over petty things, seeing you stay cheerful and kind, despite all those terrible things that awful stepmother and her daughters do to you."

            "Cinderella, there's nothing special about me. You could get rid of your unhappiness too, if you just looked at things in the right way…"

            "I don't understand."

            "It's very simple, let me explain…

            **When the cat's away,**

**            It's the mice who get the holiday**

**            When the cat's away,**

**            That's the day the mice will play**

_What d'you mean, dad?_

**            There's a game of cat and mouse,**

**            Going on all over this ugly house  -** _Aah__!_

**There's a game of cat and mouse**

**            But the mice will have their day!**__

            When the cat's away, **- yes, yes, yes…**

            _It's the mice who get the holiday ** -**_**Exactly!**

_When the cat's away,_

_            That's the day the mice will play…_

_            Awful cat upstairs,_

_            Half is gone and built again with spares_

_            Awful cat upstairs,_

_            But the mice will have their day!_

_            **When the cat's away,**_

**_            It's the mice who get the holiday_**

**_            When the cat's away,_**

**_            That's the day the mice will play…_**

****

******Now there's some ugly sister cats**

_Never seen such ugly cats as that!_

_            **Ugly sister cats,**_

**_            But the mice will have their day!_**

****

**_            When the cat's away,_**

**_            It's the mice who get the holiday_**

**_            When the cat's away,_**

**_            That's the day the mice will play…_**

****

****_Won't that day be nice_

_            When the cats are terrified of mice,_

_            Won't that day be nice_

_            When the mice will have their day!_

_            **When the cat's away,**_

**_            It's the mice who get the holiday_**

**_            When the cat's away,_**

**_            That's the day the mice will play!_**


	5. The Voyage of Love

This song's a duet again – Cinderella in italics and the prince in bold.

            Oh, it was lovely to see her so cheery. It happened so seldom. But at that moment, in came her ugly stepsisters, and that put an end to that. 

            They were all so excited about the invitations they had received from the palace, to go to a grand ball, and the rumour was that this ball was Prince Charming's last chance to choose a bride. If he didn't, his father had apparently said that he'd choose a bride for him, himself! So of course, each of them thought that they'd be the new princess. If you'd seen them, you'd know how silly this was. 

            But then the two sisters caught a glimpse of Cinderella's smiling face, and of course, devised one of their usual nasty tricks. They showed Cinderella the invitation that had come for her, and as she reached out to take it, they threw it in the fire, and then they went chattering off, as if nothing had happened, leaving Cinderella broken-hearted in the kitchen.

            "Oh Buttons, I get so tired of this house and this life. If I didn't have my dreams, I don't know what I'd do, I think I'd go mad! And I've been dreaming an awful lot lately, ever since that day when you and I met the prince and Mr Dandini…

            _I dream of a ship, she lies at anchor_

_            Lies like a prisoner in a jail_

_            Looks for a star to guide her homeward_

_            Waits for a storm to fill her sail_

_            I dream of a ship, she's going nowhere,_

_            Ready to sail the open sea,_

_            Ready to cross the wildest ocean_

_            Brave any storm to come to thee…_

_            I want to tell him how I love him_

_            I want to give what's deep inside_

_            I want to die when I think of him_

_            He is the moon and I'm the tide._

**The ship that I dream of holds a cargo,**

**            Indian incense, spice and tea,**

**            Jade from the east and Spanish leather,**

**            Gold from the mines and ivory**

**            The treasure she holds is just a token**

**            Tinier than the smallest part**

**            Of the love that lies unspoken**

**            In the galleon of my heart…**

**            I want to tell her how I love her**

**            I want to give what's deep inside**

**            I want to die when I think of her**

**            She is the moon and I'm the tide.**

_Love is the ancient roaring ocean_

_            The haven where the ship abides_

_            Love is the cargo of devotion_

_            Love is the moon and love the tide_

**Love is as cruel as any tempest**

**            Love is the star that makes us roam**

**            Love is the leaving of the haven **

**            Love is the final coming home**

_I'm hoisting my sails and weighing anchor_

_            Leaving the shelter of the bay,_

_            Tempting the fury of the tempest_

_            Letting it carry me away_

**This is the voyage I was born for**

**            Nothing would stop me setting sail**

**            The voyage of love is such sweet danger**

**            That live or die, I cannot fail.**

**            _Love is as cruel as any tempest_**

**_            Love is the star that makes us roam_**

**_            Love is the leaving of the haven_**

**_            Love is the final coming home._**


	6. No Big Deal

            That was the first time she ever mentioned love to me, the first hint of her dream I picked up. Why, I even thought she was thinking of me for a while, isn't that silly? Me? Still, it was a nice thought while it lasted, and anyway, why not? Friendship's a great thing, and it's always possible it may grow into something else. Things often start off as something small, and if you stick with them, and work at them, then they could turn into something really exciting. Take an acorn, for instance. It doesn't look like much when it falls to the ground, but give it time…

**            Once in the autumn, when the leaves turn brown,**

**            A tiny little acorn fell to the ground.**

**            He covered himself in fallen leaves,**

**            And then he rolled up his sleeves…**

**And though he was no big deal,**

**            He knew he was no big deal** _(an acorn?)_

******He forgot about good and bad and should**

**            And started to do what he could.**

**            And now he's an oak tree - **

**            He holds his head up high.**

**            His roots are buried in the earth,**

**            His branches brush the sky.**

**            He knows what he's here for**

**            In every leaf and limb**

**            Maybe before we swing the axe**

**            We can learn a lesson from him.**

            _(You know, I think you might be right about that.)_

**            (Hey!)**

            _The very first monkey to pick up a stick_

_            He wanted his breakfast, and he wanted it quick _**(they all do!)**

            He used that stick to crack a nut 

_            Without a single 'if', 'and' or 'but'._

_            He thought it was no big deal _**(did he really?)**

            _He thought it was no big deal_

_            He hardly noticed what he'd done_

_            Even though he was the very first one._

_            And now look around you_

_            To where that stick has lead_

_            To cups and plates, and skis and skates,_

_            And sewing machines, and thread._

_            That monkey was a genius _**(Oo Oo Oo Ah Ah Ah)**

            _An Einstein chimpanzee_

            But he didn't know when he grabbed that stick 

            _How the world was going to be._

**Once there was a planet, spun round the sun,**

**            Thought a little life would be a lot of fun,**

**            Planted the stream in a deep blue sea,**

**            The acorn, the monkey and me!**

**            And maybe I'm no big deal**

**            I'm probably no big deal**

**            But me and you, and the other two**

**            Could help that dream come true…**

**            Who knows where we're going,**

**            But just look where we've been**

**            The nut, and the tree, and the monkey, and me,**

**            And everything in the dream.**

**            It may seem like nothing,**

**            What you and I can do,**

**            But you just don't know how a dream's gonna grow,**

**            You just can't see how a dream's gonna be,**

**            So don't try to guess – **

**            Just start with a yes!**

            _(Just go on, say yes, that's right)_

**And it could be a real big deal**

**            It could be a real big deal.**

**            Wish on a star – and start where you are – **

**            And we could go far…**

***

            The day of the ball finally came, and you should have seen this place! What a mess! Ugly sisters' paraphernalia spread all over the place – dresses, wigs, shoes, powder, a _tip!_ And Cinderella rushing around doing everything. Well, nearly everything. She had to get her sisters all ready; iron their dresses, brush their dentures, powder their wigs, polish their shoes, cut their toenails and put green nail varnish on them, and all at the same time! Oh, those sisters were so impatient, they just couldn't sit still. 

            While all this was going on, I was down in stable, polishing the carriage and grooming the horse. Poor Daisy! She's far too old to pull the carriage by herself.

            Well, the whole week leading up to the ball was taken up with preparations, so that it was almost a relief to see them set off on the night. At least, it would have been a relief, if I hadn't caught a glimpse of Cinderella's face as she walked alone back down the stairs to the kitchen. It nearly broke my heart to see her so disappointed. I went and sat up on the grass behind Hard-up Hall, to look up at the stars and feel sorry, but I couldn't get poor Cinderella out of my mind. So, eventually, I went back to the kitchen door to peer through the keyhole, and check that she was all right. And this is where we come to the business of dreaming.

            I shouldn't have been eavesdropping, I know, and what I'm going to tell you will sound crazy, I know that too; but it was at that moment that I began to see that I'd been wrong about dreams and wishes. And here's why. In the kitchen, with Cinderella, was a beautiful little old lady dressed in an amazing sparkly dress, and holding a shiny wand. And she was talking to Cinderella…


	7. The Land of Dreams

            "Who are you?"

            "You mean you don't know?! Come on, try."

            "Yes, I _do _know you, you're… you're… I can't think, I can see you, but it's like seeing someone from the corner of your eye, or remembering someone from a dream."

            "That's me alright, a dream seen out of the corner of your eye."

            "But you seem real, somehow. Not a dream."

            "Who told you dreams aren't real? Honestly, what do they teach children in schools nowadays?! Are you real?"

            "Yes, of course."

            "And where are your dreams?"

            "Well, inside me, I suppose."

            "You _suppose_?"

            "No, they're definitely inside me."

            "So, if you stop believing in your dreams, you stop believing in a part of yourself, a _big_ part of yourself, and you certainly stop believing in me. And if I'm not here, then who are you talking to, you silly girl!?! Now let's get down to some serious dreaming."

            "Serious _dreaming_?"

            "Serious dreaming. That's where you have a dream, and you _know_ it's a dream, but you don't let it fade away. You hold it in your heart like a butterfly in a cocoon, patient, gentle, warm, as soft and firm as love… And when the dream is ready, when it's really _alive_, when it knows that what the world needs, what it's dying for, is this beautiful new butterfly dream, to remind it why it's here… then, POOF! Out it bursts! A dream with it's wings on…"

            **There's nothing as free as a dream that flows,**

**            There's nothing as green as a dream that grows,**

**            There's nothing as wise as a dram that knows,**

**            We come from the land of dreams…**

**            There's nothing as sweet as a dream that sings,**

**            There's nothing as true as the joy it brings,**

**            There's nothing as wild as a dream with wings,**

**            We come from the land of dreams…**

**            We come down from the land of dreams,**

**            To earth and water, air and fire,**

**            To dress in flesh the word we are, **

**            And see the truth of our desire.**

**            There's nothing as kind as a dream that cares,**

**            There's nothing as cruel as a dream that snares,**

**            There's nothing as brave as a dream that dares,**

**            We come from the land of dreams…**

**            There's nothing as sad as a dream that cries,**

**            There's nothing as dead as a dream that dies,**

**            There's nothing that sees like a dream with eyes,**

**            We come from the land of dreams…**

**            We come down from the land of dreams,**

**            To earth and water, air and fire,**

**            To dress in flesh the word we are,**

**            And see the truth of our desire.**

**            There's nothing as dark as a dreamless sleep,**

**            There's nothing as lost as a dream you seek,**

**            There's nothing as sure as a dream that's deep,**

**            We come from the land of dreams.**

**And if your eyes are open, you will find**

**            That most men in the land of dreams are blind,**

**            The dream of love joins heaven and earth,**

**            The dream of death is another birth…**

**            We go back to the land of dreams,**

**            Through earth and water, air and fire,**

**            To hear again the word we are,**

**            And find the home of our desire…**

            "Got the idea?"

            "I think so."

            "You don't _think_ dreams, they come from your heart, not your head. So look in your heart. What's there?"

            "Oh, it's impossible! It's too much even to dream!"

            "Too much to dream, I don't _believe_ you! Listen, if you want to stay unhappy, you're going down just the right route. Now, give it a go! Look straight at your dream."

            "I want… to go out!"

            "You want to go out? Is that it? Come on, try harder!"

            "I want… I want to go to the prince's ball."

            "You want to go to the prince's ball? My dear, everybody wants to go to the prince's ball, and everybody _has_ gone. You must be the only human being for two hundred miles who stayed home. Call that a dream? Once more."

            "I… I want to marry the prince's friend, Mr Dandini."

            "The prince's friend? Are you sure that you don't want to marry the prince? Why not go for broke?" Of course, she didn't know that when Cinderella met the prince, he was dressed up in Dandini's clothes. 

            "No, it's Mr Dandini that I love."

            "What's so special about Mr Dandini that makes him better than the prince?"

            "He's my dream."

            "Ooh, now this _is_ serious dreaming. And you must do it. But I'll do a little dreaming of my own and maybe we can put together a package…

            "If I dreamed of a daughter, and sometimes I do,

            I dream of a daughter just like you.

            And when she went dancing, as you will today,

            I dream up some magic, to help on her way.

            I dream up a pumpkin, a plump one, and round,

            Then six little mice from their hole in the ground,

            A pair of green lizards, and then I would start,

            To make them a place in the dream in my heart.

            I know in the end what we want is a marriage,

            But first let this pumpkin turn into a carriage,

            To carry a princess, a carriage so splendid

            The moon will be jealous, and ask her to lend it.

            To steer it, these lizards will metamorphose

            Into two jolly footmen, in fine footmen's clothes."

            "Keep dreaming, keep dreaming, I see what you mean!

            A team of white horses that's fit for a queen!"

            "For a prince and princess, if I have my way,

            The mice shall be horses, but just for today!

            At the last stroke of midnight the dreaming must stop

            And if you're not back when both hands hit the top

            The world will look on as your dream comes apart,

            And as time breaks your dream, so will time break your heart."

            "But I can't go dressed like this! What shall I do?"

            "It's your dream. Do you know what you want to wear?"

            "Yes, I can see it in my heart…"

            "Then it's yours."

            And there she was, more beautiful than any princess, with a shining gold and silver carriage and with liveried footmen and coachmen and a team of beautiful white horses, and dressed in a dress  that… that… well, she looked like the queen of the angels, if there is such a thing. And if there wasn't before, there is now.

            "Now off you go, you're already late. And don't forget, on the stroke of midnight, the dream must end…" And with that, the coach flew off into the night, to take Cinderella to meet her dream.

            And what a dream it was! All the splendour of the palace, all the great men and women of the country, huge tables of food, great flasks of Aqua Libra, an orchestra playing, everyone dancing and sparkling conversation. And in the corner, a very dismal looking prince, with Dandini trying to drag him out to meet the guests. Oh, Cinderella's two ugly sisters were there too, of course, like two cows in a china shop, trying to get near enough to the prince to drag him into a conversation, or maybe even a dance! But long before Cinderella arrived, they had eaten far too much rich food and were turning green and having to sit quietly in a corner, near the potted plants. And then…


	8. The Ball

Once again, a duet – Cinderella in italics and the prince in bold…

            "Your Majesties, Your Lord and Ladyships, ladies and gentlemen, loyal subjects all, Her radiant Majesty, the princess Emberina of the distant land of Inglenook." And down she walked, down the long curved staircase, with every eye in the room fixed on her. She was so radiant and beautiful, this princess from an unknown land. Only she wasn't a princess from an unknown land, she was my friend, Cinderella!

            Everywhere she strolled at the ball, people watched her, and made their way towards her to introduce themselves and enjoy her beauty, and the delicate tinkle of her laughter. It was ages before she gopt clear of the crowd, and saw Dandini standing by himself against the staircase. Of course, she thought he was the prince, because of the first time they'd met. So. She made her way towards him to try and find out about his friend, the young man that she'd fallen in love with at that first meeting. 

            "Good evening, your majesty. I bring you greetings from the royal court of Inglenook. I am the princess Emberina." Dandini was very puzzled by this young princess mistaking him for the prince, but soon set her right and led her off to meet the real prince. And as she looked ahead to where Dandini was leading, her dream washed over her like a wave of the purest water, filled her lungs with perfumed air from the first garden, lifted her heart up as though it was the first flight of some great bird, because there before her stood the young man she loved, that she thought was Dandini, and on his head was the royal crown.

            It would have been very easy at that moment to have given up the dream as hopeless. Kitchen maids don't marry princes, after all. But at that moment, a beautiful butterfly flew in through the French windows, and reminded Cinderella of the words of her fairy godmother. So she held on to her serious dreaming, and went forward to meet her love. And as it turned out, the prince had been doing some serious dreaming of his own…

            **A moonless sky, a silent night,**

**            A million years ago**

**            I looked across eternity**

**            And knew this would be so.**

**            I was a star, you were a star,**

**            A billion miles away,**

**            A million years, a billion miles,**

**            To bring us to this day.**

**            And oh, my love, my guiding star,**

**            That journey ends today.**

**            And I would seek you evermore**

**            If you should go away.**

_A shining mist, a shifting light,_

_            I glanced, then you were gone._

_            Alone I walked the virgin earth,_

_            That first and freshest loam._

_            The burning sun sang of my love,_

_            The pale moon shed her tears,_

_            They were my friends, and kept a watch,_

_            And marked the months and years._

_            And oh, my love, my morning light,_

_            The searching ends today._

_            And I would seek you evermore_

_            If you should go away._

**We journeyed through the universe**

**            And littered it with love,**

**            We lighted on the holy earth**

**            Like Noah's holy dove,**

_The days looked out over our love,_

_            Once met, never apart,_

_            And I must live in wonder now_

_            That you have claimed my heart._

**_And oh, my other self,_**

**_            Until our moment's dark,_**

**_            Let's love, and laugh, and show the world,_**

**_            That one and one is love._**

****

            And so they spent the entire evening together, speaking with their eyes and dancing with their hearts. They were so caught up in each other that Cinderella completely forgot her fairy godmother's instructions; to leave before the last stroke of midnight. That is, until the clock started to chime…

            "Midnight! The pumpkin!"

            The prince was flabbergasted.

            "The mice! The lizards!"

            He couldn't work put what was happening. His dream was melting away in his arms.

            "Let go of me! Let go, please! I must get back to my pumpkin before my footmen turn into lizards!"

            And off she ran, slipping and sliding on the polished marble floor, towards the door and her waiting pumpkin. It was so slippery that she was in danger of falling. So, for a moment she hopped along, first on one foot, then the other, removing her beautiful glass slippers. Well, as she went sprinting barefoot through the doors to the open air, someone tried to grab her elbow, and only succeeded in knocking one of the slippers from her hands. It was the eleventh stroke, and she couldn't stop to pick it up, so she bolted through the door. A moment later, when the whole party had followed in pursuit out of the door, there was no princess to be seen. No one noticed the lizards sitting motionless on the stone balustrades, or the white mice scurrying into the entrance to the palace drains, the smashed pumpkin lying in the gutter, or the young peasant girl disappearing around the corner in the direction of Hard-up Hall.


	9. Ring Them Bells

            With the mysterious princess gone, the heart seemed to have gone out of the party, and everyone drifted off home. The prince sat alone on the steps in the moonlight, not knowing if he had awoken from a dream or fallen into a nightmare. Dandini came quietly out of the door, and handed something to the prince. It was the glass slipper. He leapt up and embraced Dandini and, within a few minutes, they had worked out a plan to find his dream once more. The slipper was _so_ tiny, they reckoned if they made every woman in the country try it on, the woman it fitted would _have _to be the princess. So, the next morning, they set off to do just that.

            Well, after hours of fruitless searching, going to every house in every street, trying the shoe on every woman, old, young, tall, short, thin, stout, rich and poor, they came to Hard-up Hall. Word of their plan had spread before them, and the two sisters had got themselves prepared in their finest gowns and tightest socks, ready to force their feet into the slipper no matter how much it hurt. But first one, and then the other was disappointed. The shoe would hardly fit on their big toe, let alone the whole foot! The entire royal party heaved a sigh of relief and turned to go. The prince was about to leave forever!

            I knew that if someone didn't stop him, two important dreams were going to end, there and then. So, I spoke up.

            "My lord, forgive me, I am a humble servant, but I feel it is my duty to tell you of a third sister in this house who hasn't been brought forward to try the slipper."

            One of the sisters gave me a sharp clout around the ear, but despite their protests the prince insisted on seeing Cinderella, and of course, the slipper was hers. She slipped her foot into it, and in that simple movement, two dreams became a kiss, and then a wedding!

            **The royal carriage has left the garage**

**            The marriage is today**

**            The news is spreading, the royal wedding**

**            Is heading right this way…**

**            Ding dong, ding dong,**

**            Ring them bells and don't get the ring wrong,**

**            Ding dong, ding dong,**

**            Everybody ring them bells.******

            There was the most enormous celebration in the cathedral, with all the people of the country present.

**            Have a search 'round the royal church for**

**            A perch where you can see**

**            Cinderella and her feller**

**            Now yell them bells for me…**

**            Ding dong, ding dong, **

**            Ring them bells and don't get the ring wrong,**

**            Ding dong, ding dong,**

**            Everybody ring them bells.**

            And a huge party after. And Cinderella's father was made a Duke, and I was made a Knight of the Green Baize, and shortly afterwards the king bought a new billiard table and retired, and the prince and Cinderella became King and Queen. And although the dream was dreamed once upon a time, we, and they, and all the kingdom are living now, happily ever after…

            **Joyful singing, bells are ringing,**

**            Hear the music play,**

**            Joy and laughter ever after**

**            Have to come their way**

**            Ding dong, ding dong,**

**            Ring them bells and don't get the ring wrong,**

**            Ding dong, ding dong,**

**            Everybody ring, everybody ring,**

**            Everybody ring them bells!**

****

****


End file.
